Blue wins U.S. Women’s National Team scrimmage

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 20, 2009) – The U.S. Women’s National Team held an intra-squad scrimmage won by the Blue Team on June 20 at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., as it prepares to begin a busy summer stretch of matches.

Opposite Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) led the Blue Team to the 25-23, 19-25, 25-17, 25-12 victory. She posted a match-high 22 points as she collected 17 kills on 44 attacks to go with five blocks. Libero Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas) provided 25 digs in the four-set match. Setter Nellie Spicer (Barrington, Ill.) led the Blue Team to a 36 kill percent with 51 kills on 141 attacks while adding 17 digs. She added a kill, block and ace for three individual points. Outside hitter Jane Collymore (Seattle, Wash.) contributed 15 points via 11 kills on 31 swings, three blocks and an ace in the victory. Outside hitter Kristin Richards (Orem, Utah) added 11 points on eight kills and three blocks. Middle blocker Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) tallied four kills on seven errorless swings and four blocks for eight points in the victory. Middle blocker Alexis Crimes (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) tacked on five points with two kills and three blocks. Middle blocker Lauren Paolini (Ann Arbor, Mich.) scored four kills on five errorless attacks. Outside hitter Angie Pressey (Lake Mary, Fla.) added four points on two kills and two blocks.

Outside hitter Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) paced the Red Team in scoring with 13 points, all on kills from 42 attacks, to go with 14 digs. Outside hitter Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) added 13 digs and 12 points, also all on kills from 43 attacks. Opposite Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) tallied six kills in the loss, while middle blocker Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.) tacked on eight points on seven kills and an ace. Middle blockers Tracy Stalls (Denver, Colo.) and Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) turned in five and four points, respectively. Libero Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) handled 31 service receptions with a 52 positive percent to go with 15 digs. Setter Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) led the Red Team to a 29 kill percent with 45 kills on 153 attacks, while adding two kills and a block of her own.

The Blue Team started Richards and Collymore at outside hitter, Metcalf at opposite, Bown and Harmotto at middle blocker and Thompson at setter. Metcalf, Collymore and Spicer started all four sets for the Blue. Richards and Harmotto started and only played in the first three sets, while Bown was limited to starts in the first two sets. Crimes started the final two sets, while Paolini and Pressey started the final set.

The Red Team started Barboza and Larson at outside hitter, Haneef-Park at opposite, Scott-Arruda and Joines at middle blocker and Thompson at setter. Scott-Arruda, Barboza, Larson and Thompson started all four sets for the Red Team. Joines started and played only in the first two sets. Stalls started the final two sets, while Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) started the fourth set.

The Blue Team held a 22-5 block advantage during the match.

The scrimmage served as a tune-up for the Eighth Women’s Pan American Cup to be held in Miami June 26 to July 4. The 12-team international tournament played at University of Miami and Florida International includes the top two teams from the 2008 Olympic Games as reigning gold-medalist Brazil and silver medalist United States headline the list of countries participating. The tournament’s top three finishing teams from NORCECA and the top finishing team from South America earn spots into the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix. For additional information on the Pan American Cup, click here.

After a day off to travel to Orlando, the U.S. Women’s National Team will host the FIVB Women’s World Championship Qualifier Tournament – NORCECA Pool G at University of Central Florida July 6-8. The winner of the four-team tournament – including Barbados, Costa Rica and Netherlands Antilles along with the host – receives a berth into the 2010 FIVB World Championship to be held in Tokyo in November 2010. For additional details on the tournament, click here.

Team USA is also entered in the 2009 FIVB World Grand Prix, a 12-team tournament that involves three preliminary weekends of three consecutive matches. The U.S. will trek to Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Miao Li, Chinese Taipei and Bangkok, Thailand during the preliminary round. The top five teams during the preliminary round will join Japan in the five-day, five-match FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round in Tokyo Aug. 19-23.